Are Tribulations, Trials, and Persecutions Bad?

Romans 5:3 “And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;”

The question is, are tribulations, trials and persecution bad for a Christian, and the answer is no. In Romans chapter 5 verses 1 – 11 God describes a believer’s life; He also describes how He builds a believer’s strength as a Christian into maturity. We must never forget that we are flesh, therefore our abilities to comprehend and keep our minds focused are sometimes hard. This explains why the Holy Spirit must bring things back to our memory. “…and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” John 14:26 If we had a perfect understanding of God and a perfect memory of God’s works then we would be in heaven, because in this flesh we will fail to understand. For example, God said, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” Rom. 8:28 However, do we really comprehend God’s thoughts, powers, and actions in our life through this verse? If we had a perfect understanding of this verse and God’s Sovereign Powers, then we would never need the Holy Spirit to remind us that God controls every single aspect of our life’s happenings. Do we truly, without doubt, worry, or confusion glory in our tribulations in life? Do we simply apply the tribulations, trials, and even persecution to the working of God in our life for a purpose He is applying for our better and growth? Do tribulations in your life build patients or do you worry, and cry? Listen to the Apostle Paul in 2 Cor12:10 “Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.” Did you know that persecutions build strength in our faith in Jesus? And when these things come do we glory in the Lord, we ought too. Listen again to the Apostle Paul, “Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me.” 2 Tim 3:11. Now go back and study what events Paul is talking about, did you know that at one point Paul was stoned so badly, they thought they was dead? “And there came thither certain Jews from Antioch and Iconium, who persuaded the people, and, having stoned Paul, drew him out of the city, supposing he had been dead.” Acts 14:19. But even though they tried to kill him, he returned to do God’s work in those cities, why, “but out of them all the Lord delivered me.”

In conclusion, one of the hardest things we can do in life is to just simply trust that God is doing these things for our own good. It is easy to forget the Sovereign hand of God is behind these things and panic. In some way we all do it at some point, because we are not perfect, we all have weaknesses. It is when God reminds us we remember and come to our spiritual senses and accept that GOD IS SOVEREIGN, He has promised that EVERYTHING is for our good, and that HE WILL DELIVER US. However, this depends on the strength of the believer’s faith and knowledge of God and His word of promise, if a believer does not grow much their level of understanding will be so weak, they may never understand. A question we must all ask ourselves, do we know “that tribulation worketh patience;” and that the harder the tribulations the more patients it builds. Therefore, the next time tribulations, trials, and/or persecutions come our way, even if we panic, let us remember “that God is building patience and that He WILL deliver us. The question must be, HOW STRONG IS OUR FAITH IN GOD?    

God cannot be defeated!

Rev. 11:1 – 14

After Jesus returns in the rapture for the collecting of every Christian on the earth, there will not be one single believer left on the earth. No believers and no true churches, they will be many false churches and false Christians but none that belong to God. In the bible we must understand there is so much we do not understand. The reason we fail to understand is two-fold, (1.) God simply did not reveal it to us, or (2.) God did not choose to put it in His word. Either way God meant for us not to know. There are things in the bible that are unknown and guessed at, I believe we should not be guessing what is meant and just accept that God does not want us to know. Therefore, we must accept that these two witnesses are unknown, but they will be two men who God has chosen for this time. These two men we do know will be dressed in incredibly old clothing and have great powers given to them from God. They are two witnesses, they are here to perform the purpose of Christ in this world, to witness to whom the Holy Spirit sends them, mostly if not all Jewish people. They will also witness the Truth of God to a world that hate them. They will anger the people of this world, and the world will want them dead but cannot kill them. God gave this warning in verse five, “And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.” However, this satanic controlled world does not care what God says, but they will in hell. God went on to say in verse 6, “These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.”  These two men will preach against ungodliness, against the anti-christ, and against the sinfulness of the satanic controlled world. Their God given powers will prove who they are, they are of God. However, as history has proven their witness will fall on deaf ears, as it always has. The hate of this world will show how much these two men are hated. When they are finished, “And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.” V. 7 Again, we do not know who this “beast” is, but we can believe he is powered by Satan. Again, we must be careful by guessing, we do not want to lead anyone wrong. After the rising of the beast, God will allow these two witnesses to be killed, just as He has with many of His saints. But please notice the hate of the world against them, “And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves. And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.” Verses 9 – 20. Notice their charge was “because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.” Just as God and God’s people have always tormented the people in this world. This is why they want Israel dead, they want churches dead, they want Christians dead, they want bible truth dead, they wanted Jesus dead, and if it were possible, they would kill God, but it is not possible. The hate began in the garden after the fall, when Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit and separated themselves from God. God said to Satan in Gen. 3:15 “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed.” The word “enmity” means hate, or hostility, meaning between Jesus, Christians against this Satanic controlled world. Today, we see this hate, from the days of Christians and churches being tormented, to the hate of Jesus, to now again rise its ugly head to hate these two men. Today, we can see the hate once again rising its ugly head, preparing to hate these two men called witnesses of God. The hate is so real and strong that they pull their dead bodies in the street and let them lie for 31/2 days while rejoicing and celebration even giving gifts to each other in celebration. Why, because they hate God and His witness so much, although their belief is they have defeated God, but they will soon find out, they did not, as the seventh angel sounded his trumpet and “there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.” God will never be defeated, neither will His word, His Son, His churches, nor His people. “…he shall reign for ever and ever.” Amen!     

People do not understand God.

Ecclesiastes 9:1 “For all this I considered in my heart even to declare all this, that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God: no man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before them.”

People by nature do not understand God, they simply do not understand anything about Him. It is only after a soul is saved by the power of the Holy Spirit and through the blood of Jesus, then trough the teaching of the Holy Spirit that we will ever understand anything about God. Nothing about God comes naturally, it is not simply studied and learned, and it is not handed down through time, it is the gift of God, and all gifts from God are called spiritual gifts. The Apostle Paul wrote it this way, “Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.” 1 Cor. 12:3, 4. As Christians, it would do us well to understand that we are in God’s grace, we live, we move and have our being only by His gracious hand. The Preacher (Solomon) wrote a very profound truth, “I considered in my heart even to declare all this, that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God:” The hardest truth for Christians to grasp and understanding is just how much our dependance is on God. The Psalmist David wrote these words, “Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.” Psalms 37:4, 5 Human nature teaches us that all things are within our reach if we earn them, fight for them, but God said He supplies all our needs in life. The Preacher wrote “no man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before them.” The truth is, people by nature understand little, and even less than little about God. There is no love in the natural heart, but there is hatred, but people do not know that hatred is there because we are born in hatred. Hatred is all people know because we are controlled by sinfulness, everything about the natural man is sinful. Love is a gift from God, just like faith is a gift from God. As Christians we must consider these things in our hearts, we must read God’s word and pray that God will teach us and give us the strength to lean on Him, because through Him we can do all things if He so wills. The Apostle Paul wrote, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” Php. 4:13 Albert Barnes wrote, “He could bear any trial, perform any duty, subdue any evil propensity of his nature, and meet all the temptations incident to any condition of prosperity or adversity.” Though Christ if it was the will of God. The Omniscient will of God is the key to our success in life, it could be that God’s plan for us is to have trials, suffer persecution, or to have success and succeed in life. Remember that the spiritual gifts of God are given in diverse ways as God chooses, therefore, one may succeed and another may fail, but it is all at God’s blessings. It is human nature to worry, but for a believer to worry shows a lack of faith in God’s Omniscient choosing for us, and His Omnipotent control over everything in our life. Either God controls everything in our life, or He controls nothing. We are neither on our own nor are we left alone, God is our strength and our buckler in life. Please listen closely to the Psalmist David in Psalms 18:2 - 3 “The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.” Then look to Job, he never failed to trust the Lord when he lost everything, while he may not have understood everything, he never blamed God not trusted God. We must remember that God has a reason and purpose in all things, even in our sacrifices. Listen to God, “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.” Pro. 3:5 

“All things are of God.”

2 Corinthians 5:18 “And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;”

What does God mean by “all things”? Here God is talking about us being “reconciled” therefore we must argue that that is the context here. But we must also agree that “all things are of God,” period. The word “reconciled” means - to change from enmity to friendship – (Vines). With this being said, we must conclude that everything involving our change or repentance from enmity to lovers of God must be of God, not a few, but all things. God said of our change, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: (13) Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” John 1:12 – 13 The word “receive” is not one of decision or choice but of a gift received. This example is found in Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:” the words “that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” is the very definition of what God is talking about in “all things are of God…in His reconciling us to Him”. God did this in Jesus Christ His Son called the Son of man, “who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ…” How did God accomplish such a task, “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” 2 Corinthians 5:21. Jesus took our sins to the cross so God could accomplish the unthinkable task of changing us from enmity or hatred toward God to friends and lovers of God. People that believe in people changing themselves just do not understand that all things in salvation are of God, who gave it to us as a gift. As God put it, “Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” If you add all things together and it does not equal “all things are of God” in salvation, then you need to study more. “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. (16) But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness.” 2 Timothy 2:15 – 16 It is our failing to “rightly dividing the word of truth.” That hinders us from understanding the works of God in our life. However, it is the works of God in our life, which is our everyday life that is our true blessing from God. The more we see the works of God in our life, the more we see God’s grace and blessings. What an unfortunate thing it is when Christians do not work enough to see those blessings of God. Jesus was once asked this especially important question, “Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?” No one can do the works of salvation, only God can redeem a sinner. “Therefore we see this in Jesus’s answer to them, “Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.” John 6:28 - 29 A person’s salvation is the one thing in life that cannot be wrong, it must be correct of hell will be your eternal home. Works voids Jesus, it also voids God’s grace and Him accomplishing all things in your salvation.

The value of money.

“For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” 1 Timothy 6:7 

Money is not evil, but God said that peoples love for it is evil. As Christians we must always remember that our life should be filled with pleasing God and not ourselves. And, we must have an understanding that our thirst for money is not pleasing to God. The most pleasing to God is to be content with what God gives us and not thriving to be rich and having much. No person brought anything into this world, we were all born naked. However, some were born into families that had much and never needed much. The life of a Christin is not what we have in life but thriving in the blessings that God has given to us. Life for a believer starts when God saves our soul and begins to bless us with so many blessing that we cannot count them. A Christians downfall is a misunderstanding of what God wants for us; He gives some riches and others He makes poor. Our faith and our way of life is not measured in dollars but in God’s blessings. If we allow ourselves to be concerned with money, then that desire will affect our relationship with God and become our evil in life. In a believer’s life money should have little value, because if we gain the entire world and lose our souls, then what have we gained? Mark 8:36. All we need in this life is what God blesses us with; therefore, contentment is necessary on our part. The Lord reminds us in Heb. 13:5 “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” God’s blessings may include money, or it may not, the Lord may enrich one and not another, that is God’s choice and not our need to chase riches. God’s blessings are not gauged by riches in money but in God’s blessing that He has chosen for you. When money is a person’s blessing in life then it brings sorrow, pain, and misery. When people measure their life in dollars they are sinning against God, because some of the most blessed people on earth are poor. The Lord said, “But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil.” This is because their love for money separates them from God, it is a lust and what did God say about lust, “Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” James 1:15. Human lust for money will cause a Christian to lose their faith in God because is causes people to do sinful things. God also said in James 4:2 “Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.” If we need, we ask God, we do not forsake God and His commandments to gain money and then call that forsaking God a blessing from God. God will never have His children to disobey Him as a blessing to Him. Remember what God said, “ye have not, because ye ask not.” Did you ask God for a blessing, and the thing you think is a blessing is it sinful, because if it is, then it is not a blessing from God but of lust. Money is needed in life, but only as a blessing from God. We must learn to add all things and decide did God bless me with this or is it that for which I lust? The Lord said, “which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” Erring from the faith will only bring sorrow and cause you to be weakened in faith. God reminds us, “Many sorrows shall be to the wicked: but he that trusteth in the LORD, mercy shall compass him about. Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart.” Psalms 32:10 – 11. If Christians want to be upright in the heart and to shout for joy it is not found in money or worldly things, it is only found in trusting God, standing faithful, and being content with God’s blessings. Our walk in this world as believers is not to please ourselves and falsely call it blessings from God, but to ask of God and be content with His gifts, because His gifts will only make us wiser and richer in Him.